Local Blogs

About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in add... (More)

About this blog: I am a native of Alameda County, grew up in Pleasanton and currently live in the house I grew up in that is more than 100 years old. I spent 39 years in the daily newspaper business and wrote a column for more than 25 years in addition to writing editorials for more than 15 years. I have served as a director of many non-profits in the Valley and the broader Bay Area and currently serve as chair of Teen Esteem and on the advisory board of Shepherd?s Gate. I also served as founding chair of Heart for Africa and have travelled to Africa seven times to serve on mission trips. My wife, Betty Gail, has taught at Amador Valley High (from where we both graduated) since 1981. She and I both graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, as did both of my parents and my three siblings. Given that Cal tradition, our daughter went south to the University of Southern California and graduated with a degree in international relations. Since graduation, she has taken three mission trips and will be serving in the Philippines for nine months starting in September. (Hide)

A Beta success for Deep Sentinel

Uploaded: Jan 8, 2019

Last Friday, Pleasanton resident and CEO Dave Selinger was a happy man.
The co-founder of Deep Sentinel was celebrating the success of their home security system in deterring a package theft from the porch of a customer in York, New York. Their system, now in the Beta phase, was being monitored from the company’s headquarters overlooking Main Street in the Kolln Hardware building in downtown Pleasanton.
The employee, a former police dispatcher, noticed a suspicious person pedaling his bicycle by the house as if casing it. When the thief went to pick up the package, the system lit up and the 104 decibel speaker amplified the monitor’s voice when she ordered the man to put the package back. He did and then took off on his bike.
It was a powerful affirmation to Selinger and his team that their system will do what they planned as they developed it. It includes three custom-made cameras with huge batteries and speakers and a wireless hub powered with artificial intelligence. Each system is monitored 24-7
The company, incorporated in 2016, has about 50 systems operating in homes during its Beta phase.
The idea for Deep Sentinel grew out of an ugly incident in Selinger’s west Pleasanton neighborhood where a residence was hit with a home invasion robbery. The ensuing homeowner’s association meeting led him to check out all of the home monitoring services. Monitored systems all had the failure of doing little—other than signage—to prevent break-ins.
He also talked with Police Chief Dave Spiller and other Pleasanton officers to gather their thoughts. They told him about one Pleasanton neighborhood where one resident wired cameras to all of the homes and then stays up all night watching the cameras to alert police to any potential break-ins. That type of system would cost about $3,000 a month per homeowner.
When he started the firm, he hoped to cut the cost to $200/month and they now are planning on $50 per month with $399 for the equipment. The equipment cost about $600 so, like the wireless companies used to do, Deep Sentinel is subsidizing the purchase. They considered using off-the-shelf equipment, but concluded they needed better equipment.
The robust camera and speaker is linked to the hearts of the system—the artificial intelligence that screens out animals and others to limit false alarms. Once the system alerts a monitor, they swing into action within a guaranteed 30 seconds to deter the potential thief. The human verification eliminates the false alarms that are the bane of police departments everywhere. The York customer, Joe Maselli, previously had a Ring system that worked fine during daylight hours. He was twice victimized—once when he left his garage door open at night and turned off the alerts on his mobile phone. That thief took his time and made a few visits to clean out the valuables, he told Selinger. The second incident, again at night, involved opening his car which he had a failed to lock.
He told the company, " To know that I have a security system that not only records events as it happens but having agents that intervene and prevent a burglary on my behalf makes me feel at ease about Deep Sentinel’s security system. To me, it’s worth it! Even the police that responded to the incident were impressed by the system and how a Deep Sentinel agent who viewed my camera remotely was able to stop a thief from stealing my package from my front door. "
As Selinger and his team look at the marketplace, they believe it is huge because there are between two and three million burglaries annually in the United States. Once people have been victimized, Selinger believes his system will be an easy sell as a solution for the future. During his research, he checked monitoring cameras and learned how thieves were working neighborhoods just like Realtors once farmed neighborhoods.
One set specialized in mail theft. They would work the neighborhood every two to three weeks, go through the mail and meticulously put it back in the mailbox. Residents had no clue that their mail had been rifled. Last month, we learned that new credit cards we had ordered had apparently been stolen from our mailbox and used for unauthorized purchases. Fortunately, the issuing company had a robust security system and we were able to cancel that card and get a new one.
The public launch date has not been set, but interested people can sign up for an email alert on the website: www.deepsentinel.com. The firm employs 45 people with about 25 in Pleasanton and 20 in Taiwan.
It should be noted that like other locally-based start-ups, Selinger had a choice of where to locate his firm. He selected Pleasanton where he lives in a non-gated neighborhood and his daughters attend public schools. His west Pleasanton neighborhood has convenient access to Pleasanton ridge for mountain biking and he is 15 minutes or less away from the office depending on the traffic lights. His family has lived in Pleasanton for about eight years.

Posting an item on Town Square is simple and requires no registration. Just complete this form and hit "submit" and your topic will appear online.
Please be respectful and truthful in your postings so Town Square will continue to be a thoughtful gathering place for sharing community information
and opinion. All postings are subject to our TERMS OF USE, and may be deleted if deemed inappropriate by our staff.

We prefer that you use your real name, but you may use any "member" name you wish.

Name:*

Select your neighborhood or school community:*

Comment:*

Verification code:* Enter the verification code exactly as shown, using capital and lowercase letters, in the multi-colored box.